How Auroville can teach us all a thing or two about offsetting carbon 

News: The Auroville Forest Group, a non-profit in Puducherry, has introduced a new method of increasing tree cover that can mitigate climate change effectively in the future. 

Lessons from Auroville can be implemented on a larger scale all over the country.

Auroville, an international town in Puducherry, has planted about three million trees from 1968 onwards. 

How was this achieved? 

Removal of invasive alien species, planting native tree species and improving the area through various soil and moisture conservation measures like building check dams and percolation ponds. 

Protecting trees from wood cutters and grazing.

Around 30 tropical dry evergreen forest trees were identified which were indigenous to the town and has potential to sequester one million tonnes of carbon during their lifetime. The program laid emphasis on their plantation. 

A methodology was devised to convert transport details into total emissions. Here a carbon converter, a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission calculator, a tool using global conversion factor from the GHG Protocol for Corporate Accounting is used. 

Emissions from transportation like flights, cars, buses and trains can be calculated by using the method. Thus, the impact of transport on the environment can be calculated, and the same can be compensated by planting the required number of trees. 

How can this practice be implemented on a large scale? 

Legislation- Government may bring a legislation to emuluate the same methodology as the one followed in Auroville. Due provision for carbon offsetting can be provided under the Act.  

Tax- A green tax may be calculated by considering the carbon emissions from cars, buses, trains and flights and the cost of planting the required number of trees and subsequent maintenance. The same amount can be allotted to the city corporation or the forest department concerned for carrying out planting activities.   

Source: This post is based on the article “How Auroville can teach us all a thing or two about offsetting carbon” published in Down to Earth on 31st Jan 2022.